KARACHI, Aug 8: All arrangements have been finalized to administer oral anti-polio (OP) virus to 6.2 million children up to five years of age, across Sindh during a three-day national immunization campaign to start on Tuesday.

The country has managed to successfully restrict the incidence of the disease this year, with 12 confirmed polio cases till date as compared to 103 in 2003 and 63 last year.

Dr Mohammad Azmoudeh, WHO Coordinator for Polio Eradication Programme-Sindh, on Monday urged parents to ensure that all their children under five years of age were vaccinated against polio.

Reiterating that repeated dosage of OP is absolutely harmless, he said children administered with OP yet inflicted with poliomyelitis was due to the fact that they, while being offered the vaccine, were already inflicted with “rota virus” which neutralized the impact of OP.

Dr Azmoudeh reminded that the vaccine for polio virus was discharged through motions from a child suffering from diarrhoea at the very point of time or even a little later following the administration of OP.

“We, the health professionals thus have been making frequent appeals to ensure routine immunization including OP for children right from their birth as well as during NIDs and SNIDs,” he elaborated.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Health Minister, Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, said that Sindh would be declared polio-free zone by the end of this year.

He was speaking at a briefing here in his office on Monday regarding the said anti-polio campaign to be started in the province.

The minister said all resources would be utilized for the success of this campaign in the province during which about 6.2 million children under the age of five would be administered anti-polio drops.

Presenting the briefing Project Director Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) Dr Khadim Hussain Lakhair informed the minister that 15,818 mobile teams, 17,994 fixed teams and 1,107 transit teams would take part in the province wide campaign which would be monitored by 3,491 supervisors and 716 zonal supervisors.

He said that the total number of polio patients in the country was recorded to 12 this year so far, while in Sindh only two polio cases had been identified, one each in the Sanghar and Larkana districts.

Mr Qaimkhani directed the health EDOs to play their due role for making this drive a success.—APP